| UC San Diego's Pediatric Diabetes Research Center - A Dream, A Goal, A Promise |
 If you ask Dr. Michael Gottschalk what he wants people to know about UC San Diego’s new Pediatric Diabetes Research Center, his enthusiasm is palpable.“We want people to know we're up and running as a comprehensive type 1 diabetes center,” Gottschalk said, “We’re excited about the many opportunities to be a valuable resource on multiple levels to the San Diego diabetes community.” Dr. Gottschalk serves as chief of the Pediatric Endocrinology division at UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital, and like many of the physician-scientists of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center (PDRC), Dr. Gottschalk wears multiple hats. As a clinician, he cares for a portion of the Rady Children’s Hospital Diabetes Clinic’s 1,000 patients. And as a researcher looking for ways to preserve the remaining beta cells of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients, he conducts several clinical trials. Everything really is everything at the PDRC. The center integrates the work of basic science researchers with clinical trials and the clinical care enterprise of the Rady Children’s Hospital Diabetes Clinic. It is the first comprehensive diabetes center in the San Diego region. Launched by a unique collective of academic, clinical, and community leaders committed to type 1 diabetes research and care, the PDRC is poised to become the leading type 1 diabetes center in the country. What is everything? For a family living with diabetes, fulfillment of the PDRC’s mission is everything. For the PDRC, finding a cure is a dream, a goal, and a promise. CULTURE OF DISCOVERY Though celebrating only its 50th anniversary in 2010, UC San Diego has played a key part in the rise of San Diego as a hub for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Leaders in academic science collaborate with top research organizations like the Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, and the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Scientists participate in productive endeavors with the industries that bring medical discoveries to patient populations. It’s no coincidence that San Diego is home to diabetes pharmaceutical manufacturer Amylin (producer of Byetta and Symlin), continuous glucose monitor manufacturer Dexcom, and stem cell bioengineer ViaCyte, to name a few. At the heart of the PDRC, faculty pursue scientific discoveries in a building just north of the UC San Diego campus, and enjoy immediate proximity to the best and brightest minds in San Diego biomedical research. The PDRC claims the most extensive network of type 1 diabetes researchers in the region, complemented by the work of type 2 principal investigators, UC San Diego stem cell scientists, biologists, geneticists, and many more. Though the scope of its program is already significant, the PDRC looks to the future for changes that will actualize its full potential. The PDRC is planning to move all of its programs to the UC San Diego La Jolla East Campus, close to UCSD’s Thornton Hospital, Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center, and Moores Cancer Center, where daily contact between scientists and doctors will provide the path for bench-to-bedside discovery, the most powerful way to help. COMMUNITY Leaders of the PDRC and its community supporters know how important it is to communicate with the individuals and families living with diabetes. That’s why the PDRC partners with organizations like TCOYD, JDRF, the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, Diabuddies and Insulindependence to discuss its research and programs. A key component of the PDRC’s mission is outreach to those living with diabetes. The PDRC provides this outreach through a monthly electronic newsletter, a continuously evolving website (pdrc.ucsd.edu) and participation in San Diego community events. A DREAM, A GOAL, A PROMISE Above all, PDRC researchers, clinicians and staff want to help. They want a cure, they want to stop the long-term complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and they want to help everyone in the diabetes community understand the implications of scientific discoveries and innovation. A cure is a dream, a goal, and a promise. Everything. CONTACT You can find out more about UC San Diego’s PDRC and the work of individual scientists on its website at pdrc.ucsd.edu . You can also email Program Administrator Shauna McKenna at slmckenna@ucsd.edu with any questions. ### |